Nestled deep in the mountains lies a small village at the top of an almost tower like structure. At the center of this village stands a grand castle; Soranotou Castle. The current king, Akuma Senji lives with his daughter Haruno Sakura, his new wife, Yamanaka Muku ,and her daughter, Yamanaka Ino. King Akuma came into power after marrying the Queen, whose husband had been poisoned. He had stumbled across her while visiting Soranotou during a festival being held for the Queen's birthday with Sakura almost a decade ago. Muku had recognized Senji from when they were younger and she immediately invited him and Sakura to stay in the castle after he told her he was raising Sakura on his own after Mei died. Not even a year later, they were to be married. At first, the villagers were weary of a nonnative stranger becoming King, but their minds were quickly changed when rumor of war spread throughout Soranotou by the neighboring village, Tuchiyama.
It was said that the war was supposed to last for years, but thanks to Senji's negotiation skills, little to no blood was spilled. No one knows how or why the war rumors came to be, but the villagers were grateful to their new King for settling matters before they got out of hand. Senji became known throughout other villages as "Peacekeeper Akuma".
All the while, Sakura is left with maids and attending knights. After Senji assumes the crown, sakura never sees him. Up until Sakura was in her late teens, he'd only see her on holidays and special occasions. Not that she minded. She adored the maids and the knights who looked after her. She even befriended the knights' captain, Neji. When Sakura was younger, he'd sneak her midnight snacks while the rest of the castle slept and bring her trinkets when he accompanied the King to the village for his monthly inspections of the businesses. Muku thought it was strange Senji insisted on doing down himself, but only shrugged when questioned about it.
Muku and Ino both adored Sakura and welcomed her as if she had lived there her whole life. Ino looked up to Sakura and spent as much time as she could with her. Ino was younger then Sakura, being thirteen to Sakura's now twenty one. Sakura's life in the castle grew boring as she finished her studies. Neji brought her books on crystals and fantasy worlds as a gift and she read them constantly, but wanted to do more. So, after much begging and convincing, she managed to talk Neji into training her self defence and how to wield a sword. Unbeknownst to Senji and the rest of the palace staff, Sakura snuck out of her room quite often so she could practice with Neji.
During one evenings spar, a new knight sauntered over to them with a smirk.
"Captain," He nodded at Neji before turning to face Sakura and kneel in front of her. "Princess."
Sakura's face flushed slightly as she scoffed and tightened her grip on her sword. "What is your business here? I'm in the middle of something."
"Fiesty," The knight mumbled before rising to his feet, earning him a smack with the handle of Neji's sword on his shoulder.
"Bite your tongue." Neji scolded before bowing his head to Sakura in apology. "My apologies, Princess. He's still in training."
Sakura shook her head as she rolled her eyes. "No matter. Can we get back to our spar now? I almost got you." She added with a smirk of her own.
"Oh, I like her." Sasuke smiled and dodged Neji's sword handle, jumping behind Sakura, who in turn, raised an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder at him.
"What?" He questioned with a chuckle. "Can't take a compliment, Blondie?"
"Blondie?" Sakura hissed, eyes narrowed. She hated her blonde hair. She cursed her father everyday for her hair color. She hated that it was the only trait she got from him.
"That's enough!" Neji shouted as he grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and lead him away. He paused to again bow his head to Sakura and ushered Sasuke away from the training field. With a sigh, Sakura sheathed her sword and turned on her heel, walking back into the castle.
After taking a long, hot shower, Sakura put on her favorite green night dress and sat on the lush leather sofa holding a steaming cup of tea in her hand, while looking out her window at the setting sun, the open curtains allowing the dimming light to paint her room a soft orange. She sighed to herself as she glanced around her massive bedroom. The king sized bed took up little space despite being nestled on an extravagant dark cherry wood bed frame, tall pillars rose from each corner with a white and gold lace canopy curtain flowed down to the floor like a silk waterfall. Next to the bed were matching nightstands of the same dark cherry wood, along with her wardrobe, desk, and table set. Her walls were a soft white with pale cherry blossoms seeming to float down the wall from the vaulted ceiling. The chandelier that hung low from the ceiling had rose quartz crystals over almost every inch of the white gold. The only thing in the room that her eyes lingered on was an old family portrait taken when she was a baby.
The soft smile on her mother's face always made her heart hurt. Sakura barely remembered her mother. Senji never talked about her. The last time she brought her mother up, Senji scoffed at her and said, "Muku is your mother, Sakura." with a small smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes.
Sakura set her teacup on the table and walked over to her desk and reached for the photo. The cold of the metal frame on her fingertips made her want to clutch it to her chest and cry, but she didn't. She looked at her mother's face and smiled a teary smile. She had memorized her mother's face long ago, but never got tired of looking at the photo. Her long pink hair was in a braid that she had pulled over her shoulder so she could hold Sakura on her arms. The purple diamond on her mother's forehead always made Sakura wonder when and if she was going to get one of her own. With a sigh, she placed the photo back on her desk and sat back down on the couch with her tea. Feeling down, she reached up to her chest and pulled on the thin chain around her neck and pulled it up from under her dress, revealing a small silver oval with her mother's name engraved on it, the only momento she had of her mother. She had found it among Senji's things before they moved into the castle and she's kept it hidden ever since, telling him it was stolen when he had left her alone in the cabin he found while they were traveling.
Bringing the oval to her lips, she mumbled a small prayer that she'd be able to meet her mother again someday. Sighing to herself again, she rose from the couch and set it back on the tray by her door and sat on her bed. She pulled her hair out of the bun she had put it in and ran her fingers through it. It was almost at her waist at this point, it was the only thing she loved about her hair. It was the length of her mother's in the photo. Smiling to herself, she pulled her blankets back and nestled into the mattress, lulling herself to sleep with thoughts of being in her mother's arms once more.